All the Minis

I made a yarn wall above my desk! They are 20g minis that I dyed, and the peg board is from The Container Store. I was pondering which projects to use them on; I already have a list of mini-skein projects from when I was selling them on Etsy(shame on them, they changed their site so my shop was hidden unless I paid high advertising fees), but after perusing Ravelry and finding some suitable patterns I got excited to cast on all the colorful socks with my sweet yarn babies . I also enjoy making Xmas balls, which require about 6 grams of yarn each, but I have enough of those right now for an entire tree(which is what I did this year, yay!). And although I have enough knitted socks, I enjoy having a sock project going at all times for when I'm feeling crafty.

I found these ten patterns to try out. Some of them might require a full skein purchase because 20g of one color, 10 for each sock isn't much unless it's a striped pattern using all different colors. I plan on altering most of these patterns somewhat because I'm particular about heels and only enjoy top-down socks, etc.. So here I go on my mini-scrappy-sock-adventure!

• SlipStripeSpiral by Mylene Pijpers
• Over Left Socks by Cheryl Chow
• Tea With Hermione by Sandra C
• Socks for the Dancing Parson by Zoei Proulx
• Sprocket Socks by Megan Nodecker
• Fluorite Socks by Andrea Mowry
• Color Palette Socks by Laura Moorats
• Funfetti by General Hogbuffer
• Oddments by Beverly S
• Rain or Shine by Stephen West

Summer Vibes

I was browsing books the other day, and came across Operation Sock Drawer, and dang, that cover photo hit me! I've made a small box of socks before as a yearlong KAL, but hadn't thought to line them up in a larger box like that. So I grabbed whatever was handy, which was a cardboard box, cut it, and voila, my very own sock 'drawer'! I was able to fit 35 pairs, and I 🧡 it to bits. I wanted a proper wooden box or a shallow basket, but for now, cardboard will suffice. I dug some socks out of my cedar chest, and it was fun taking a look back through them and making discoveries. Like over time, my gauge has become much looser, which is a bummer; I'll need to work on that. I was 3/4 of the way done with my current sock WIP, and it's so comparatively loose that I fell out of love with them, poor sock babies. Some things I learned: My favorite pattern is vanilla with an FLK heel. There are a couple of other simple patterns that I like, but the fancier ones, not as much. I really like my one pair of Toasty twists, so I'll have to make more of those. I DO enjoy the Opal and other brands of self-striping commercial yarns, and I like slightly larger, roomier socks but in a very tight gauge. The wale deflection is my favorite toe decrease. Magic Loop is the best thing ever. Some of my earlier socks are so tiny, like Dina, get a grip, you don't have Barbie ankles. I've currently been dyeing a zillion 20g minis (tons of fun, I highly recommend trying dyeing), so I'm about ready to figure out my favorite method of knitting a 5-color scrappy sample sock and sell the kits on Etsy. But don't hold your breath, I'm the slowest person in the world at getting these things going. But I DO have a pretty rad sock drawer now, and I'm going to have fun wearing the heck out of them. Maybe I'll buy myself a sweet pair of Birkenstocks so I can really show them off proper.

Also, WHEN the frick is Corona virus going to end, this is getting very annoying. Downright perturbing! I wasn't too worried at first, but the other day I randomly checked the death statistics on the CDC site, and it was unsettling. Almost 300k more people have died from Corona virus in the US than died in the 1917 flu outbreak so far, and the number of folks who have died in the past 30 days was truly alarming. I should go get my booster, but I got so damned sick after shot number two, that I'm scared. Anyway, I hope that anyone reading this stays safe and healthy and that this pandemic bullplop ends very soon so we can get back to normal. Also, antibiotic resistance is very concerning, but that's a whole other rant, ttyl!

 ❀Still working on sweaters over here, finished a Culm the other day and will be trying to photograph it today or tomorrow. As well as my two Lunenburg's that I've worn many times, but still need pictures. It's been really hot here lately, of course, it's summertime, so can't wear them right now. I'm looking forward to Fall. Will be dyeing some more minis soon, 20 grams this time instead of 10 (maybe I'll dust off the old Etsy shop!), and I knit a bunch more vanilla socks. That's my knitting update. Otherwise, I've developed a mild obsession with mechanical keyboards, so I've been spending my mornings listening to LoFi mixes and taking typing tests at typings.gg. 

Here's a good one to chill out to:

 Finished my Slipstravaganza, and I 💙 it. It's super large and in charge, and a great shawl to wrap up in now that it's transitioning to winter. So now that I'm able to concentrate on other projects, I'm debating what my next knitting moves shall be. I've been desiring a Lunenburg sweater, so that's a MUST. Pretty sure I'll fall over dead if I don't cast one on soon, because Bohus, yay! And all the sweaters really; I basically have none...which is slightly embarrassing considering how obsessed with knitting I am. It's quicker to cast on socks and shawls, so that's what gets done. And of course, I should finish some languishing WIPS, but that's nothing new. 

Here goes: I'm resolving to finish my little hearts sweater, even though it's looking like it might be too small. Also, since I love knitting with my sock yarn leftovers, I was thinking about what kind of scrappy sweater I could make, and was inspired by this sweater from Boden.- I'm debating whether to make it a raglan or a drop sleeve. Maybe I'll cast that on today as well. After the ginormous shawl I just did, I feel like I should be able to bust out a sweater or two like nothing.

So here's an update from a tiny jump into the future: I HAVE started a Lunenburg! And it's glorious, I hope it fits me properly when done, because every other person in Ravelry who has finished it has come out with something beautiful, so if it doesn't work out for me, I will be a sad Dina. I'm using Palette yarn from KnitPicks, which I am really appreciating lately. It's soft, woolly, comes in a million pretty colors, including heathered ones, and is a good weight. Buy some for yourself here. 

And something funny. After wanting a striped sweater to use up leftovers, like the Boden sweater, and after being slightly perplexed as to why that pattern that I was looking for didn't already exist in Ravelry, Andrea Mowry came to the rescue and released the pattern Stripes. About 10 hours after I wanted one. So thanks Andrea! Here is it, and of course I added it to my queue. However, I already began my own marled version, using 2 strands, so I guess I should finish that one first. 

 Happy October!

Yay, Autumn, the best time of the year! This year I'm totally obsessed with all things Fall, like I want to buy/knit all the cozy sweaters, and be surrounded by everything orange, green, cranberry, gold, and brown. I'm calling it pumpkin fever. Today is a tough day, because I am sooooo impatient for this year's Stephen West mystery knit-along to start tomorrow. I can NOT wait. I chose Halloween colors. As far as I can tell me and one other person are the only ones to go that route, out of the around 2700 participants, which is a surprise since the MKAL is Oct-Nov 9th. It's so much fun to see all the pretty color combinations. 

#SlipstravaganzaMKAL    #WestknitsMKAL2020

Down a rabbit hole......whoosh!

It's nail polish collecting! It's not my goal to have a huge amount of them, but I dunno, this bug has hit me HARD. It started about 3 weeks ago when I decided that instead of having random polishes, I would go ahead and buy a rack of some sort, pick 2 brands, and then shop for the colors I liked. I chose Zoya as my more premium brand, and Kiko as the cheaper 2nd brand. I found a cute wooden spice rack that would hold about 21 polishes, and bought it. But as I was shopping the polishes, I was blown away by the pretty colors. I always liked nail polish, but I never really 100% noticed all the beautiful options that were out there. Glitters, holographics, iridescent shimmery ones, neons, neutrals... I can't believe I never noticed this before!

So then I made the decision that there was no way I could stick to just the two brands, and started poking around at what other polishes were out there. And surprise! There are soooooo many different companies. I'm still finding more even though I've been looking into this for a few weeks. So now I have about 80 polishes, and a million cotton balls, and I've been painting my nails a different color every day, and worrying about my cuticles and moisturizer more than I ever have. And I bought a bigger rack. Here's a list of some different brands in case you wanna do some nail polish shopping yourself. It's a fun little treat to get in the mail, and not too expensive.

Sally Hansen, Zoya, Kiko, IScreamNails, Starrily, Cupcake Polish, China Glaze, Live Love Polish, Cirque Colors, Julep, ella + mila, Orly, Essie, Static Nails, Superchic Lacquer, Nails Inc, Pacifica, OPI, Color Club, Rugged Beauty, Born Pretty, Smith & Cult, Mini Luxe, FUN Lacquer, Loud Lacquer, J. Hannah, eco collective Palate Polish, L.A. Colors Color Craze, ColorPop, butter LONDON, Sinful Colors, Barry M, Priti NYC, tenoverten, Dazzle Dry, H&M, Holo Taco, ILNP, World Market, wet n wild, Habit, Yves Rocher, Bitzy, Icing, Depend, Rimmel, Deborah Lippman, lakur, Shany, Adesse, Mosi Mei, Picture Polish, Kiara Sky, deco miami, LVX, PaintBox Nails, Handmade Beauty, Lauren B. Beauty Nail, Bess & Color, Salon Perfect, Jessica Cosmetics, Kokie Cosmetics, Flora, Spela, Morgan Taylor, Enchanted Polish, NCLA, Lights Lacquer, CDN Vinylux, Pretty Serious, Olive & June, Anna Sui, Revolution, Sugar, Finger Paints, Space Case

I know this seems like a lot, but omg, there are MORE. Phew. And I kinda want them all, hehe

H a p p y  2 0 2 0 !

I've been enthusiastically trying to finish some of my many WIPS. I completed my Weekender and a pair of socks this week. I started a crochet granny stripe blanket recently and am almost at the finish line with it already, woo-hoo! My What the Fade is at about 90%, and I guess the next thing after that will be the off-white silk blend pullover that's been hanging out on a table for a couple of months waiting patiently for me to work on it. I have so many WIPS that if I did nothing this year but work on them, I still might not be done by 2021. Oh well, I'm sure I'll start a few other new things anyway, because FUN!

Speaking of fun, I've been dyeing a bunch of pot luck mini skeins and will be opening my Etsy to sell them, and maybe some progress keepers, probably later today if anyone is interested.

And look what I found! These 'Tiptoe Socks' by Deramores are pretty cute, they have these 6 colorways, and a kit with the yarn and the pattern is $8.97. Here is the link. You're welcome 😊